Tag Archives: Inauguration

Hadiya Pendleton was a girl who had the world to look forward to. An honor student, she performed as a drum majorette during President Obama’s inauguration, only to be killed unintentionally by thugs involved with Chicago’s out of control drug gang violence. Her guardians did everything right and her future was bright, but cut short for being in the wrong place and the wrong time. And this is the problem with trying to do anything good in open drug markets. Open up a business and it gets robbed. Fix up a house and it gets burglarized. Raise kids to be successful and they get harassed, assaulted, and possibly killed. Our hearts go out to the families of this girl and all the children getting killed only due to living in drug crime areas. When you are deciding where to buy your house or live longterm, remember to also keep in mind any children you might be having in the future. Why let all the love and hard work and great parenting go to tragic waste because of a street thug’s itchy trigger.

One of the gossip sites I sometimes visit had a picture of Barak whispering something to Beyonce from the inauguration. Of course the headline encouraged readers to let their imaginations go wild.

And the readers did just that. There were many, many Black women who were making comments saying they wouldn’t blame Beyonce for going after Barak because he was very desirable..okay sexy. I do believe this is a common viewpoint, though certainly not exclusive to Black women either. What comes out of all this is something remarkable? I looked at a number of sites listing most attractive or desirable Black men, and all were entertainers (singers, actors) or athletes except for Barak Obama. Without the presidency, Barak would at best be considered handsome in the professor type of handsome but certainly nowhere near anyone’s most desirable or sexy list. There are three ways men tend to become very desirable: fame, wealth, or power. Of course Obama has the fame but I think he might be the first Black man to be desirable purely on the position of power. The way he is able to command an audience with the power of words while dressing impeccably well and yielding great authority is something new in our culture.

I know I’m thinking big scale, but I think Barak can have a huge impact on our community going beyond his presidency. As more young Black women look at Obama as this handsome, educated, provider who is proud to be there for his kids, what they start seeking in men might improve. Suddenly, having an education, not having your pants down around your knees, knowing how to talk and present yourself, and being responsible might be the type of man being chased instead of Joe Thug with the bling and the rims. And men are funny creatures. We adapt to get the girl. If women raise their standard, men will raise theirs. But as long as young men can act like clowns and be about criminal activities and have a large percentage of women chasing after them, they have no incentive to change. Maybe this will ultimately be the Hope and Change Obama promised.

Well here is wishing a positive four years for our country and nothing but success for our re-elected president. I watched as much of the inauguration as I could and couldn’t help but notice the large number of young, Black people enjoying the day. Now, I know the appeal of having a Black president is a big draw for many such supporters, but I am hopeful of a long term effect here. These voters might now feel that they are part of the political process instead of being on the outside looking in, and that they have a part in setting the direction of a country they are a part of. More importantly, it will be great if this effect last beyond Obama and beyond just presidential elections.

Another highlight I took from the day was what gorgeous and confident young women Sasha and Malia Obama have become. The thought dawned on me that every culture throughout history has had some sort of princess figure of grace and dignity and beauty to look up to and emulate. I am sure the cultures of our African ancestors provided this in abundance but of course slavery robbed us of that and much more. But as you look at the rate of black teen pregnancies and the way many of our young women are dressing, we are definitely in need of such role models. So, I very much look at these two girls as the first African-American princesses and am hoping that many girls are seeing them as the same.